David Droga at SxSW Sydney on creativity and AI

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David Droga is absolutely someone I wanted to hear from at SxSW Sydney (among many other claims to fame he is the most awarded creative ever at Cannes Lion and CEO of the $16 billion agency Accenture Song).

Creativity was long supposed to be last bastion of human dominion over machines,. Yet over the last 18 months that has been cast into doubt. So what is the future of creativity in a world in which AI is – in some ways at least – becoming creative? It’s best to get it in David’s words. Here are some of most interesting quotes I captured from the session.

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Future of work at SwSX Sydney: beyond productivity and amplifying human potential

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On Thursday I was on the Thriving in the Future of Work panel at SXSW Sydney with Derek Laney of Slack, Mary Lemonis of REA Group, and Dominic Price of Atlassian.

It was a highly stimulating, rich discussion. Below are slivers of the discussion organized around just two of the major themes of the conversation, focusing on my thoughts but also including insights from the other panelists (distorted through my memory and perception): 

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Four pillars boards need to understand about generative AI

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Generative AI is moving past being a buzzword to being woven into the fabric of business strategy and operations. It will undounbtedly lead to innovation, reconfiguration, and transformation across sectors. As it moves to the heart of business models and work structures, boards and executives must not only understand but adeptly navigate its complexities.

Responding to the results of a survey of board members, leading business thinker Tom Davenport asks Are Boards Kidding Themselves About Generative AI? In particular he points to their claimed degree of expertise in generative AI.

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What the democratization of software development means for organizations

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Low-code and no-code software development have been around for a while. Now the rise of AI-assisted software development is pushing the power of software creation to the next level. This provides big opportunities but also risks that need to be managed.

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6 emerging solutions to Information Provenance

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Information provenance has become an absolutely critical issue. In a world of disinformation, AI-generated content, and abuse of intellectual property, we need to know where information has come from and its validity.

There are a range of solutions under development, both technological and human.

In the slides below I present 6 emerging solutions that can help move us to a world where we can verify information provenance and the quality and ownership of information, including a wide range of examples of the leading initiatives.
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The important distinction between Generative AI and Analytic AI

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To tap the power of AI in organizations it is critical to understand the distinction between Generative AI and more traditional AI, which is perhaps best termed ‘Analytic AI’.

Recently I have frequently seen these domains confused. Generative AI is not all AI, as many imply. It is a relatively new domain with characteristics distinct from much of mroe traditional AI.

The following chart lays out some of the most important distinctions. Click on the image below for the full size image, and scroll below for more discussion.
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The open-ended potential of the 60s, 90s, and 20s

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We seem to be in a three decade cycle of belief in open-ended potential for positive change.

I was born too late to experience it properly, but when I was younger I always felt the 1960s had been the most magical time in human history.

For the first time ever the established hierarchies had been seriously questioned and challenged,. Still today some of the most extraordinary music ever came from that period, transcending existing genres time and again. The civil rights movement shifted nations. Psychedelics became mainstream, shaping the worldview of many who became social activists or some later became CEOs.    

This was a time when the young – for a moment- believed that they could change the world, throwing away the past and transforming society in sometimes unimaginable ways.

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David Autor on the design of how we use AI and work polarization

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MIT professsor David Autor is one of the leading labor economists in the world and expert on the impact of technology on work. I have frequently referenced his work, notably on the polarization of work. 

An interview in Financial Times shares his perspectives on the role of AI in work. As Autor emphasizes and I have been saying for many years, the issue is in the design of work and the economy, and the mental models we apply to how we do that.

The whole interview is worth reading, here are a few excerpts.

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The massive bust in virtual event platforms and what comes next

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The last few days have marked the massive bust in virtual events: Verizon closed down BlueJeans, Run The World bought by EventMobi, and Hopin’s event management platform was acquired by RingCentral.

Hopin was valued at $7.6 billion and now appears to be valued at around $400 million.

Verizon paid $500 million which is now effectively written off.

Run the World raised $15 million including from Andreessen Horowitz. While a sale price wasn’t disclosed Techcrunch noted that there were 500 events recently listed, down from 15,000.

What went wrong?

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Innovation in decentralized organizations: From DAOs to BORGs and beyond

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Powerful forces of decentralization over the last decades, underpinned by the Internet, flowing through to societal shifts, and expanded by distributed technologies such as blockchain, have reshaped business and society.

However governments and regulators have largely tried to block these forces, often successfully.

The global economy is still founded almost completely on joint-stock companies, with legislated centralized structures of ownership and governance. 

So what is the best path to decentralized organizations, how can we best innovate in structures for participative value creation?

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